If it is taking over your lawn right now, in Alberta, it's not crabgrass. Crabgrass is a summer annual that will not come up until soil temperatures are nearly 60 F, and it dies in the winter.

If you are worried about it coming up later, applying a pre-emergent herbicide is the ticket. However, the products that you can buy at a home center are not going to do nearly as well as something that is professionally applied.

It hasn't started to come up...yet. Just trying to win this war before the summer starts and I get too busy. I will look at what I can find for pre-emergent. Unfortunately, we aren't overrun with LCO's around here. The first semi-competent person that shows up on my doorstep offering to ctake care of my lawn will get the job....

I use a product called MSMA on my lawn and my lawn only as i do not have an applicators license so i don't do ANY chemical applications other than lime on anyone elses lawn. This product seems to work really well on my lawn. It turns it a light green for about and week and a half after the application but the crabgrass goes away. I do not know if this product is still available for sale though because i think i remember seeing on here that it was one of the chemicals that was going to be pulled from the market place!

The best was to keep it away is pre emergents though and overtime, you won't have any come up at all.